Police Captain Convicted of Murder To be Released

Douglas Prade, 66, was convicted for killing his ex-wife, Dr. Margo Prade, in 1998. The former Akron police chief maintained his innocence throughout his trial and prison sentence.

Dr. Prade, 41, was gunned down in the parking lot of her office in Akron, Ohio the morning before Thanksgiving in 1997.

In an order of a petition from Prade for post-conviction relief, the Judge Judy Hunter determined “no reasonable juror, when carefully considering all available evidence in the underlying trial in light of the new Y-STR DNA exclusion evidence, would be firmly convinced that the defendant Douglas Prade was guilty of aggravated murder with a firearm”.

DNA evidence taken from Dr. Prade’s lab coat did not match Douglas Prade’s, and the new ruling primarily reflects these findings. Saliva from bite marks on Dr. Prade’s lab coat was used to determine the DNA evidence.

If the post-conviction relief order is appealed, Prade could be granted a new trial.